BL. CLAUDIO GRANZOTTO - 2 SEPTEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 2nd of September

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. CLAUDIO GRANZOTTO, RELIGIOUS

Blessed Claudio was born on August 23, 1900, the youngest of nine children, near Venice. His parents were poor and pious farmers. From a young age, he was accustomed to hard work in the fields. When blessed Claudio was nine years old, his father died. The outbreak of World War I soon led to him being drafted into the Italian army. He served from 1915 until the end of the war. 

RELIGIOUS ART

His artistic abilities, especially in sculpture, led to studies at Venice’s Academy of Fine Arts, which awarded him a diploma with the highest marks in 1929. His special interest was religious art. He felt a religious vocation and decided to become a professed religious. Blessed Claudio entered the Order of Friars Minor in 1933. 

PERSONAL HOLINESS

Beforehand, he was already renowned for personal holiness. When Claudio entered the Friars Minor, his parish priest wrote, "The Order is receiving not only an artist but a saint." Prayer, charity to the poor, and artistic work characterised his life. Patient in his last illness, he died of a brain tumour on the feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1947. Pope John Paul II beatified him on November 20, 1994. His feast is celebrated on August 15, the day of his passing; some calendars, however, state September 2.

(Information from Wikipedia -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Granzotto)